Navigation

Step out of your comfort zone. Not!

I like my comfort zone. Everybody does. That's why it is the comfort zone.

The popular advice one gets is to step out of the comfort zone in order to be successful. But that is some seriously flawed advice.

Our comfort zone is our little nest, where we aren't inhibited to be ourselves, where we aren't afraid to do or say things, where we aren't fighting to survive, where we have the basics figured out.

And we do our best work when we are in our comfort zone. After all, our comfort zone acts to amplify our strengths and nullify our weaknesses.

The world outside our comfort zone is enormous. There are so many things out there that we have no idea about. Which means there are thousands of directions to move when we step out of our comfort zone.

When we are outside our comfort zone, our guard is up. We are constantly on the lookout for any signs of trouble. We are alert and active and careful not to expose our weaknesses. In short, we are too busy surviving to do our best work.

Stepping out of our comfort zone is not a recipe for success.

We should look at our comfort zone like an ambitious monarch looks at his tiny kingdom. A monarch goes out to the neighbouring kingdom and the neighbouring lands with the goal of annexing them. He aims to conquer these lands and make them a part of his kingdom.

Only then can he rule them.

And that is what we ought to do. Stepping out of our comfort zone doesn't mean anything if we step out, lose the battle and come back home. In fact, a monarch that does that risks losing his own kingdom to somebody else.

Which is the very fear that keeps us all firmly in our comfort zones. What if we step out and lose and can't even find comfort in what we used to be before?

But those are the two choices that we are left with. Go out and annex and conquer or rule our tiny kingdom and be happy about it.

So step out of your comfort zone only when you aren't happy with your tiny kingdom. And when you do, remember that your goal is to conquer and add more land to your kingdom, a.k.a expand your comfort zone.

The bigger your comfort zone, the higher the probability of you doing work that will make a difference.